# Malaga "Ras Kassa", an artisan made pipe by Manny Khoubesser



## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

I've been wanting to get a briar pipe to add to my collection, even though I'm really happy with meers and smoke them almost exclusively -- my cobs are looking a bit unloved since I got my IMP, my Altinok and my Ahmet Govem over the past three months. But I'm kinda shocked at the prices a good briar goes for, and I don't want a bad one, why bother? So I decided to look around a bit for an estate pipe produced by a well regarded artisan for less than $60.

And eBay came to the rescue, with this:

Ras Kassa Straight Billiard Briar Estate Pipe - Beautiful Grain, Handsome Design | eBay










I googled "ras kassa" and saw that it was a mark used by the producer of Malaga Pipes, which were hand-made by the owner. This is what pipedia has to say:


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"The Malaga Pipe Company was located in Royal Oak, Michigan at 1406 East Eleven Mile road. The second generation owner's name was Emmanuel Khoubesser.  Everyone knew him as "Manny". He was a big jovial man that was easy to  converse with, always had a smile and a good joke to tell his very loyal  customers. He had the ability to befriend anyone within minutes. The  small store was packed with curious customers every Saturday morning  looking for the latest design made earlier in the week.  He also carried a full line of custom mixed tobaccos that you could  sample and an array tobaccos in tins. 
I was first introduced to him in 1969. I remember him taking me  in the back to show me each step involved in pipe making. He was very  serious about the quality of the product he sold and would never sell a  flawed pipe, even if it was very minor. My step father purchased several  of his pipes and really enjoyed them. He once said he's never found a  better pipe (his words). "
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Some other source I found through google says this:


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"I remember Malaga pipies well and am surprised they're still around in  Royal Oak, MI.  The founder used to boil his bowls in oil"way back when."  I still have a few of these pipes--good smokers all.  The founder would  stamp the words "Ras Kassa" on a particularly good piece.  I think this  is Armenian but have no idea what it means.  Being a Miciganian, former  president Gerald Ford smoked Malagas.  Oh for the days when a President  could smoke in public."
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Ebay has a photo of the artisan for sale at the moment:

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Apparently, Manny was known for "oil curing" pipes, something I'd never heard of until now. This is some info I found on the process:


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Oil curing- originally invented by Alfred Dunhill as a way to short-cut the time needed for air curing but not the quality of an air cured block. I quote from the patent application filed with the United States Patent Office on October 14, 1918 by Alfred Dunhill:

In the manufacture of tobacco pipes, from brier (sic) and other woods it is often advisable to employ oil in the preparation and finishing of the pipe, but such employment of oil is open to the objection that when such pipes are first used the heat of the burning tobacco causes such oil to exude, and not only impart an unpleasant flavor in the mouth of the smoker, but also destroy the finished glossy appearance of the exterior surface of the pipe. In order to overcome this objection, more especially in pipes of high quality, they are frequently stored for a considerable period, such as twelve months or longer, to insure the perfect incorporation of the oil with the fibers of the wood and to thoroughly season the pipe. But it will be obvious that such storage of manufactured or partly manufactured articles represents capital lying idle, and the object of the present invention is to prepare and season such pipes, as to render them ready for sale and use in a comparatively short space of time.(my italics)

Dunhill led the way in developing a whole new curing system- a system that many people from around the world swear was and is the best in the world. From 1918 onward Dunhill pipes were steeped in a bath of vegetable oil or oils, and then placed on brass heat pegs which stood over heated gas jets. The heat was controlled so that, over a period of weeks the oil would exude from the bowl bringing with it sap, resins, and other impurities. This "exudite" was periodically wiped from the surface of the pipe bowl before it could harden into an impervious coating. In a manner of weeks the pipe was cured. But this type of curing is different than air curing; the flavor caused by the curing is different. Nutty, say some; oily, say others. Advocates of this system feel that the fibers in the wood are somehow changed, made more durable and able to withstand higher temperatures than an air cured or kiln cured pipe.
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I've got no idea about this, I certainly don't know much about these processes.

Ha. This eBay binge of mine has been going on for at least two weeks now. But it takes about two weeks for a packet to arrive to me here in Indonesia, so I haven't got the first ones yet. I think that's what feeds the addiction: if I could actually handle the pipes, then I wouldn't buy more. At first I had a spot of "buyer's remorse" with this one, but I'm feeling more confident about it, now. Unless it's damaged, it sounds like I've got myself a good pipe.


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## Contrabass Bry (May 3, 2010)

Nice, classic looking pipe you got there! And for only $35? Robbery!

Nice to see that you research led you to some really interesting facts about the maker and the "oil curing" process. When we stop learning, we start dying.

Enjoy!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Terrific find, there! :tu I'll bet it smokes great!


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## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

Contrabass Bry said:


> Nice, classic looking pipe you got there! And for only $35? Robbery!


I did a search of completed listings on ebay to see what the average price was. The search didn't turn up any "Ras Kassa", but a fair few Malaga. Most of them go quite cheap, in the $10 - 35 range, which put mine at the high end. Still, it's been cleaned nicely and looks ready to smoke. Also, if the comment about "Ras Kassa" being reserved for the pipes that Manny thought were better then average is true, then I guess that's worth a small premium. Someone on another forum said it was just lack of brand recognition, they get bought and sold under the radar.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Irfan said:


> Someone on another forum said it was just lack of brand recognition, they get bought and sold under the radar.


There has to have been a huge number of virtually unknown master pipe makers over the decades. Their pipes now show up on ebay, found going through the desk drawers after Uncle Felix traveled on to The Halls of Happy Herfing. I suspect that good grain and staining, prominently on display with your Malaga, is a tip-off that the pipe maker knew what he was doing. One in good shape indicates that it the owner knew what he was doing when he smoked it as well.


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## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

freestoke said:


> There has to have been a huge number of virtually unknown master pipe makers over the decades. Their pipes now show up on ebay, found going through the desk drawers after Uncle Felix traveled on to The Halls of Happy Herfing. I suspect that good grain and staining, prominently on display with your Malaga, is a tip-off that the pipe maker knew what he was doing. One in good shape indicates that it the owner knew what he was doing when he smoked it as well.


Very interesting comment. But good to know that there are still genuine bargains out there. I saw a thread here or somewhere, "Are Dunhills over-rated?". I don't really know the answer, not owning a Dunhill. But my guess is that a good artisan produced pipe could be just as good or better. I wonder what the sources are to find out about the artisans who used to operate but aren't so well known now are? Apart from anything else, I really like reading stories about people like Manny. What a great life! Seems like he earned at least a reasonable living doing what he did really well, making people happy, and winning their respect. Fifty years after he died, at least a few people are interested in what he did and look at his work. I wish I could be confident that anyone would remember anything I did after I'm gone. Seems to be the secret of a happy life, work out how to get paid for doing something that you really love doing.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Irfan said:


> Very interesting comment. But good to know that there are still genuine bargains out there. I saw a thread here or somewhere, "Are Dunhills over-rated?". I don't really know the answer, not owning a Dunhill. But my guess is that a good artisan produced pipe could be just as good or better. I wonder what the sources are to find out about the artisans who used to operate but aren't so well known now are? Apart from anything else, I really like reading stories about people like Manny. What a great life! Seems like he earned at least a reasonable living doing what he did really well, making people happy, and winning their respect. Fifty years after he died, at least a few people are interested in what he did and look at his work. I wish I could be confident that anyone would remember anything I did after I'm gone. Seems to be the secret of a happy life, work out how to get paid for doing something that you really love doing.


I have a pipe made by George Berkebile that's in that category. Super pipe. He had a pipe store in Georgetown and made some real beauts. On the other hand, I have a Dunhill bulldog that I got in an estate lot buy that I hate. :lol: (It had a crack in the shank and I spent $50 dollars fixing it up for nothing! :frown 
There are some decent "off brand" factory pipes, too, that are now defunct. I have a Szabo that's a fabulous little pipe, for example. My Alpha Litewate is another old factory pipe that is no longer made and smokes very nice, but neither of them have attractive grain or anything like the Berkebile does.


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## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

So, the Malaga pipe FINALLY turned up. I'm just trying it out now. I must say, I'm not used to briar pipes at all. I can't really comment on the quality of the pipe, except to say that it feels and tastes different from a meer. Too many variables: does it need to be broken in? do all briars taste like this? I don't know.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Briars take some breaking in. Search on "breaking briars" or something. Lots of threads about it.


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## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

freestoke said:


> Briars take some breaking in. Search on "breaking briars" or something. Lots of threads about it.


Yeah. Heaps of totally mutually exclusive and incompatible positions on the issue, isn't there?! Some weird ideas about putting honey in your pipe. I'm still not sure that one isn't some cruel April fools day joke that seniors hoist on newbies. I'm just packing loose and putting the pipe down whenever it gets a bit too hot. And filling about 2/3 - 3/4 full. I got access to two briars now, the Malaga and a Gefapip, so I'm trying them on alternate days for June. It's my June pipe project.


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## Stonedog (Mar 9, 2011)

Irfan said:


> Yeah. Heaps of totally mutually exclusive and incompatible positions on the issue, isn't there?! Some weird ideas about putting honey in your pipe. I'm still not sure that one isn't some cruel April fools day joke that seniors hoist on newbies. I'm just packing loose and putting the pipe down whenever it gets a bit too hot. And filling about 2/3 - 3/4 full. I got access to two briars now, the Malaga and a Gefapip, so I'm trying them on alternate days for June. It's my June pipe project.


I had a pipe shop dump rum into a new pipe for me. I didn't really ask for it and when they did the rum splashed and ruined the finish. I didn't notice until I was half way home and 400 miles from the shop... This was designed to help break it in, I guess... When in doubt, pick the easiest method you can find to "break in" your pipe.

A pouch or two of Prince Albert or similar OTC burley will help build up a cake pretty quickly. Above all, don't stress about it and just enjoy your pipe.


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## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

Stonedog said:


> A pouch or two of Prince Albert or similar OTC burley will help build up a cake pretty quickly. Above all, don't stress about it and just enjoy your pipe.


Haha. I think the first half of that sentence is incompatible with the second, for me. Hehe. I have every intention of smoking Tuggle Hall and Byzantium in it, my two favorite CnD blends at the moment. I'm still not sure about this idea of smoking out of wood, though. After a fairly difficult, troublesome smoke out of the Malaga, I'm just having a bowl out of a meerschaum. So much easier! But a lot of reasonably intelligent sounding people with a lot more experience than me get pleasure out of briar, so I'm going to persist with the experiment.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Irfan said:


> I'm still not sure about this idea of smoking out of wood, though.


Revolutionary, if it works!


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## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

freestoke said:


> Revolutionary, if it works!


Haha. I'm working on a round thing that I think could have applications for transport, I think I'll call it the wheel.

Oddly, I really wanted to love the Malaga, but I also bought a Gefinpip from the same vendor, it was only $12.50. I'm actually finding that one much easier to smoke, it doesn't seem to heat up so quickly the way the Malaga does. Funny things, pipes, aren't they?


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## Irfan (Dec 18, 2011)

Yesssssssss! Happy as a pig in poop, despite the fact that I've been working on editing a document so bad that it had me whimpering with self-pity and despite the fact that I couldn't find lunch because it's the first day of the fasting month here.

I just scored three Malaga pipes on eBay for $55.99, which if the one I have now is any indication, is an excellent deal. I should shut the hell up about how much I like Malaga pipes, I have three not counting this current purchase, which I figure will be enough for now.


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